4 Sales Strategies that Can Help You Achieve Good Job-Hunting Results

Sales careers aren’t for everyone, but let’s face it: Most people who need to work for a living must learn how to sell at least one thing – themselves.

Even if you think your job will involve no selling whatsoever, chances are you’ll still need to sell yourself to a hiring manager. To that end, you’ll have to start thinking like a salesperson, and like a salesperson, you’ll need to implement highly effective strategies.

So, here are some thoughts and questions to ponder to help you sell yourself and improve your job-seeking techniques:

Who’s your target?

Think like a salesperson: You need to have prospects. You have to differentiate people according to who will buy, and who will only look. You need to have an eye for the right clients.

When you’re job hunting, target a handful of employers – the ones that fit your skills and experience the best. Whether they have a job advertisement or not, add them to your list of prospects. Aim for the bull’s-eye!

Be bold and creative.

Be different. Be unique. Be distinctive. While most job seekers are busy interacting with headhunters, reviewing job boards, and using traditional means of applying, you can achieve better results by being bold and innovative. Send a creative message, shoot a video resume, or show up at an employer’s office. Being brave can be essential in helping you get hired.

Explain yourself clearly.

Cut the fluff and get straight to the point, clearly and concisely. Imagine yourself as a salesperson and your set of skills and experience as the product. How valuable are you? How can people benefit from you? How are you going to be an asset?

Instead of stating a general description of your skills, be as specific as possible. Explain how these skills can contribute to the development of the company. Describe how you would leverage your talents to enhance the firm’s income while decreasing costs.

Don’t shy away from lengthy negotiations.

Remember that great salespeople don’t bail out of lengthy negotiations and won’t hesitate to pitch to clients who might not be ready to buy at that moment. This is because they’re confident that they’ll make a good impression that will secure the deal later on.

Likewise, even if employers are not ready to hire you on the spot, remember that creatively getting the attention of an employer, providing a compelling explanation of your set of skills and values, and engaging in regular follow-up can dramatically improve your chances of being hired once they decide to advertise a position.

To sum it up, salespeople perfect their craft by mastering the art of boldly and creatively building trust and confidence. As a job seeker, this should be your goal too. Master the art of the sale to ensure that hiring managers will be impressed with you.

Alan is the creator of Interview Success Formula, a training program that has helped more than 40,000 job seekers to ace their interviews and land the jobs they deserve. Interviewers love asking curveball questions to weed out job seekers. But the truth is, most of these questions are asking about a few key areas. Learn more about how to outsmart tough interviewers by watching this video.